Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir once famously stated that there is "no such thing as a Palestinian people." Was she right? In what way can one judge the legitimacy of a claim to nationhood? … [Read more...] about Identity Matters: The Nature of Nations
A San Francisco Honor For President George Bush?
Voters in San Francisco are pondering it. Some voters there (and perhaps beyond) think it is fitting. … [Read more...] about A San Francisco Honor For President George Bush?
Iraqi PM Maliki Endorses Obama’s Withdrawal Plan
Lost amidst the hoopla of Obama's overseas trip is a statement issued by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki to the German magazine Der Spiegel . "U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes." To understand how significant this is, consider for a … [Read more...] about Iraqi PM Maliki Endorses Obama’s Withdrawal Plan
24 Hours Of John McCain Political Missteps
This hasn't been the best 24 hours for presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Sen. John McCain. But the good news is that after 24 hours of news of stories that are unlikely to help him gain new voters, Democrat Barack Obama will now be under the media's vetting microscope in Iraq -- and McCain is unlikely to make the same number of blunders. And if he does, they won't … [Read more...] about 24 Hours Of John McCain Political Missteps
Obama’s Magical Mystery Tour
He's in Afghanistan today and will go on to Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and England on what his campaign hopes will be a 21st century reprise of the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour with its theme of "All You Need Is Love" but at the same time has the potential to be a gauntlet of political minefields and security nightmares. Despite the advance secrecy, John McCain … [Read more...] about Obama’s Magical Mystery Tour
Obama’s Skin
Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune … [Read more...] about Obama’s Skin
Gas: All Eyes On the Price
Dan Ariely thinks we're paying paying too much attention to the price of gasoline. He says we can't help it because the price is plastered on every street corner, reported in every newscast, and we stand there day in and day out filling up our cars while staring at the meter: For the several minutes that I stand at the pump, all I do is stare at the growing total on the meter … [Read more...] about Gas: All Eyes On the Price
Daniel Gordis: When Mistakes Are Worth Making
A Look Inside An Israeli Daniel Gordis: Dispatches from an Anxious State 18 July 2008: When Mistakes Are Worth Making For some strange reason, I remember the scene with clarity. I was in the kitchen, early on a Friday afternoon about a month ago, cooking Shabbat dinner. Micha, our youngest, now 15, was hanging out in the living room. The radio was on in the background, … [Read more...] about Daniel Gordis: When Mistakes Are Worth Making
The Barr Factor in all fifty states?
From the beginning, Bob Barr's campaign admitted that it would be a serious challenge to get on the ballot in all or even most of the fifty states. According to a recent communication from Barr's people, they feel they are on track to be on the ballot everywhere except West Virginia and Oklahoma. There are campaign representatives on the ground in West Virginia, but it seems … [Read more...] about The Barr Factor in all fifty states?
Obama is Right: U.S. People Need Spanish Lessons!
When Barack Obama pointed out recently that Americans should - in their own interest - teach their children Spanish or some other second language, many were quick to pounce. But, not surprisingly, people in South America wholeheartedly agree with him. Andres Oppenheimmer writes for El Periodico of Guatemala: "The percentage of people in the United States who master a … [Read more...] about Obama is Right: U.S. People Need Spanish Lessons!
India’s Train Route: World Heritage Site
It is celebration time at my in-laws house in the hill State of Himachal Pradesh in India. A century-old Kalka-Shimla rail line that passes through their sprawling ancestral lower Himalayan farmland, has been finally chosen by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) as a world heritage site. More here... During holidays I often walk along part of … [Read more...] about India’s Train Route: World Heritage Site
Phil Gramm Resigns from McCain Campaign. Finally.
More likely pushed out I imagine, and allowed to resign to save face. What damage Phil Gramm did to Senator McCain's campaign, with Gramm's archaic and out of touch epithets about American families who struggle so with sudden and huge inflation regarding food, transportation, ARMs, health costs... a 'perfect mess of an economic storm-- while Gramm is a coddled … [Read more...] about Phil Gramm Resigns from McCain Campaign. Finally.
Gramm’s Gone
AP via MSNBC: Phil Gramm, a top adviser to presidential candidate John McCain, said Friday he is resigning from the role as campaign co-chairman after his comments that the United States had become a "nation of whiners" who constantly complain about the state of the economy. … [Read more...] about Gramm’s Gone
Sabato’s Crystal Ball: A NEW ELECTORATE IN THE MAKING?
07/17/2008 Rhodes Cook on A NEW ELECTORATE IN THE MAKING? Speculation abounds these days about whether this fall's presidential election will produce a dramatically different electoral map than the virtually static one of the last two contests. Will Colorado and Virginia lead an array of longtime Republican states that might be won this time by Democrat Barack Obama? Or … [Read more...] about Sabato’s Crystal Ball: A NEW ELECTORATE IN THE MAKING?
Dick Cheney vs. Congressional Oversight: A Very Privileged Character
When I was a kid back in the Seventies, a favorite sarcastic phrase used to peers who were getting a bit too full of themselves and getting all entitled and snippy about playing fair was: 'What do you think you are -- some kind of P.C.?' 'P.C.' stood for 'Privileged Character.' Dick Cheney is now officially our nation's most privileged character. It seems that Cheney … [Read more...] about Dick Cheney vs. Congressional Oversight: A Very Privileged Character
Obama at the Gym: Yet Another Reason to Despise the Media for Their Abominable Coverage of the Presidential Race
As if it weren't enough that some in the media are turning the election into a referendum on Obama, thereby sparing McCain anything resembling serious scrutiny, and that the media are generally: -- holding Obama to a much higher standard than they are McCain, emphasizing Obama's nuanced policy shifts (and calling them opportunistic flip-flops) while letting McCain get away … [Read more...] about Obama at the Gym: Yet Another Reason to Despise the Media for Their Abominable Coverage of the Presidential Race
Barr on SCOTUS
Bob Barr has penned a promising piece in the Wall Street Journal on the prospect of Supreme Court nominations under the two major party candidates. The idea of a "living Constitution" long has been popular on the political left. Conservatives routinely dismiss such result-oriented justice, denouncing "judicial activism" and proclaiming their fidelity to "original intent." … [Read more...] about Barr on SCOTUS
Captain Kirk
So, you've never heard of Kirk Dillard? Now you have. A very interesting read, indeed -- especially if you respect partisans who dare to say nice things about one of their counterparts across the aisle. … [Read more...] about Captain Kirk
Phil Gramm, Porn Mogul
Well, not quite. He was a small-time investor, not a mogul, but, if nothing else, as Max Blumenthal recounted at HuffPo the other day, Gramm's forays into the porn industry in the '70s were rather amusing. Back in 1973, he tried to invest $15,000 in a soft-core movie called Truck Stop Women ("No Rig Was Too Big For Them To Handle"). With that oversold, he eventually put his … [Read more...] about Phil Gramm, Porn Mogul
McCain Reportedly To Keep Gramm As Adviser And Surrogate
You have to seriously wonder about Republican presumptive Presidential candidate Senator John McCain's grasp of political imagery and desire to win over not just swing voters but Americans who are losing their homes, lost their jobs, and who can barely afford to fill up their gas tanks: according to columnist Robert Novak, McCain plans to keep former Senator Phil aka "mental … [Read more...] about McCain Reportedly To Keep Gramm As Adviser And Surrogate